Sikhi - A way of life or is a separate Religion?

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SPNer

Any one in this forum can comment on this. As per my opinion if you make it a separate religion it will defy the principle of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji which is Universal Guru. No Universal Guru can think of categorization of their followers. I may want to more enlighten myself on this issue.

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SPNer

Like you said, it is a separate religion because we have our Gurus, from Guru Nanak Dev Ji to Guru Gobind Singh Ji and our present eternal Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. And we follow their teachings.

BUT then within SIkhi, we learn about Kaljug. We learn what to do and what NOT to do. We learn how to defeat the 5 thieves and how to achieve anand (total bliss). We start to do daily Naam Simran, and Paath. Many change their Diet, and eventually their entire outlook on live is differnt. They start to see God everyone and everything.

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SPNer

Sikhism is a religion and away of life. It goes hand in hand that Sikhism is practised in every day life. The theology of Sikhism is the belief of worshipping one God who is omnipresent & omniscent. The divine knowledge of God is obtained through the true Guru (Guru Granth Sahib). In order to obtain the divine knowledge one must become a disciple (Sikh) of the true guru. Once the iniation has been performed through “ Amrit” the Sikh is then told the path of recitation and meditation as well as the code of conduct.

For a Sikh the day begins with waking up at “Amrit Vela”, between 1am & 4 am,
after which he/she has to bathe completely ,recite the daily morning prayers and then meditate upon God’s name.

A Sikh attends the local Gurdwara (place of worship) on a daily basis where he/she can participate in sewa (voluntary service) & simran (meditation). Sewa can take many forms but usually consists of dusting the congregation’s shoe’s, helping in the langar (free kitchen), cleaning the building etc. The principle of sewa is to eradicate one’s ego and to infuse with the lord. Simran can also take the form of singing/listening of the lord’s praises and listening to sermons. There are usually two services on a daily basis one in the morning & the other in the evening.

At meal times the Sikh will share his/her food with whoever is present in their company.
The Guru Granth Sahib expects the Sikh to carry out their business honestly, politely, and
Conscientiously. The Sikh may take any profession as long as it does not violate the code of conduct.

The Sikh is expected to stand up against tyranny not only for himself but to defend the poor and needy. A defender not only of his own faith but the “defender of all faiths”.

A Sikh must donate at least a tenth of his income to charitable causes. Compassion and forgiving are also characteristic of a Sikh way of life. Most importantly hypocrisy is totally denounced in the faith. Once a person has the outward signs of belonging to the faith then the code of conduct must be observed at all times. The whole of the Guru Granth Sahib (1430pages) is the code of conduct but in short the Sikh must not break the five main “rehat”, namely
1. Must not cut hair 2.must not use alcohol 3.must not use tobacco or tobacco products.
4.must not commit adultery (only have physical relations with spouse).
5.must not consume meat in any form.

Sikhism is open to everyone regardless of race, religion, creed, caste, sex, age, & previous lifestyle. Anyone can become a Sikh by taking "Amrit". All of the code of conduct applies equally to men & women.

Pain, sorrow, misery are due to our (humans) misapprehension of the human life.
Our biggest misapprehension is that we are a body. We are not body but a soul inside the body. The body is a vehicle for our soul. Just as we need transport for getting to our destination our soul needs a human body to get to its destination. The soul is a part of supreme soul (God). God was never born, never dies, and is without fear, without hate, without greed, and without lust, and God is Joy.

Imagine a drunken jockey thinking himself to be the horse, imagine a drunken driver thinking himself to be a car, imagine a drunken tenant thinking himself to be a house.
In the same way, under the intoxication of “Maya” (mammon) we have considered ourselves to be a body.

Our deeds committed in this life or previous lives have distanced us from the true fountain of eternal joy & happiness. GGS removes our misapprehensions and shows us how to get back to our true selves through meditation.

We have migrated through 8,400,000 species of life but now, through meditation, we can redeem ourselves and return to what we really are!

"Life is a journey...not a destination!"

Many on the grounds of health and sociability have commended the code of conduct. The use of tobacco has lead to severe health problems. Sexual relations with spouse only would have contained the Aids epidemic. Alcohol has been named as the root cause of many of our health and social problems. The code of conduct is,first and foremost, for spiritual reasons the health benefits are a secondary consideration.

The thought of applying Sikhism can seem quite daunting for the newcomer.

Upon reading/listening to the Guru Granth Sahib (GGS) one is shown the perils of a particular lifestyle, and,conversely the advantages of following the other style. Ultimately it is up to the individual to choose which path they wish to follow.

Some people may claim that it is a gargantuan task to adopt such an austere code of conduct immediately by giving up alcohol, smoking, meat, cutting hair, especially if one has been accustomed to this lifestyle for a long time.

The best place to start, as in other things in life, is at the beginning. By starting to read/listen to the GGS and then by scrutinising the teachings one can adopt certain aspects and then see how this affects their life.

One may find that upon embarking on this path other changes occur consequently.

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25th April 2015 is the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli, a disastrous campaign of World War 1. Whilst most of the world won't mention the contribution and bravery of the Sikh soldiers who were involved in the campaign, we do !

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